Educational Testing ServiceReviews of ets.org

I made the Toefl IBT at home test. It all started with an application that could not be opened on my MacBook, with customer service completely ignoring me. After rebooting, this application finally worked. I spent a total of 2 hours beforehand having Toefl checked (they had to see the room, asked me 10 times to show them my desk etc.). During the test, I was interrupted no less than twice by the invigilator because they could not hear me properly. So twice I was taken out of my concentration by a problem that lies with them. I was also laughed at by the invigilator during the control process. I have contacted the customer service and they refuse to come to a solution and lay the blame on me. Absolutely do NOT buy a test from this company because you are throwing away €300! Wish I had checked the reviews before.

How is a national testing exam site so SCAMMY?!!! This test never worked on my computer even after practicing before hand. I reached out to several customer service reps via phone, email, and chat. No help whatsoever. I then reached out to reschedule this online exam and they basically said too bad. So after weeks of no help, I disputed the charge. My bank credited me (because I never received the service purchased) and now ets sent me an invoice?!!! Is this even legal? This company has major issues.

Racist company revoking access to its services based on nationality. Disgusting

Got robbed like so many other people here. Never got to actually take the test, never got to see a single question. An error appeared in the screen, the proctor said he couldn't help me, after almost three months waiting for a reply finally got one saying I had unauthorized software running in my computer, no proof provided. What is the purpose then of running all the programs to check the system, and having the proctor literally getting into the test takers computers' settings to block all kind of unauthorized software from working. An absolute robbery. Did the IELTS a few weeks later and got an 8 out of 9. Needed a 6, why would I even cheat? They are just robbing people.

I paid for the TOEFL Essentials test at home. At the day scheduled, the problems started when ProctorU people were unable to handle with an error message which avoided the ETS browser to be installed. The tech guy did some basic verifications, but he didn't spend a reasonable effort and just alleged I had to try on another computer or ask for a reschedule. As I had no other computer available and also with a tight deadline, I googled for myself and found a troubleshooting document at ETS website which contains instructions for the message I was getting. According to this document, the tech support from ProctorU should have checked some TLS configuration at Internet Options on my Windows but he didn't. After reconfiguring it, I was finally able to install ETS browser by myself. Almost 2 hours late, I tried all over again, with a third proctor, to start taking the test. She got control of my computer with their ProctorU Google Chrome extension, then ran some scripts which interrupted some services and background programs, and then manually closed some other programs I have running by default. Google Chrome Remote Desktop, Microsoft Teams, Geforce Experience, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Apple iCloud, Discord all stopped, logged out or closed. I had no Skype, Zoom, TeamViewer, OBS or any other program or remote desktop service or screen sharing installed. She finally said everything was set to proceed and my environment was ok. But when she inserted the credentials at ETS browser to start the test, a few seconds later, the screen blinked and it just showed the message "test cancelled due to security reasons". She stated this was a COMMON ISSUE but she couldn't do anything to solve, so that I should report to ETS and they would help me out. I argued I had not much time, and again she said I should no worry because this is an issue ETS is used to deal with! I sent emails to different ETS adresses and opened an incident at ETS contact support page, which stated that I would receive a response within 2 businesse days. But had no response at all from anyone. 30 days later, a Test Security Specialist (sic) sent me an email informing the reason my test had no score result available. The stating is "you had an unauthorized software operating during the test administration." I seached for ETS files at my computer, looking for some log or anything that could help me understand what happened and which program or service was running. Found 3 log files an none of them had any clue about it. So how an specialist wasn't even minimally dedicated or capable to inform me which software was running, a software that THEIR OWN SCRIPT AND THE THIRD-PARTY PROCTOR ON DUTY WASN'T ABLE TO CHECK AND CLOSE UPFRONT?

The support dept is practically non-existent and doesn't respond to any inquiries you have in advance of booking a test, as i have learned. Not to mention all the shady ProctorU stuff and arbitrary requirements that come with it... Will very likely try and get my certification from a different provider in the future.

I really hope that I read this site before taking the TOEFL iBT Home Edition. I'm one of the dozens of people here who have been falsely accused of cheating. My case was because I closed the camera during BREAK to use the restroom. I hope that the Trustpilot website appears on the first page of Google Search so that more people are aware of the risks involved in taking the ETS test. Even if the test takers are truthful, you run the risk of being accused of cheating due to the numerous rules and regulations you must remember. Remember that ETS will not bother informing participants of these sub-regulations prior to the test; you will only learn about them verbally or through the chatbox from Proctor. ETS will also not give you a free retest or reconsider Proctor's accusations that you cheated. It seems like charging you again to take the test is more profitable for them then draining your bank account. If you want to take an English test, I recommend that you take the tests offered by other services. It's better to spend $250 and get something than to spend $250 and get nothing.

On the test day, I rebooted my computer and closed all software I could find. Then the proctor proceeded to do the same. As soon as I opened the test, a message popped up stating that I had an unauthorised software running on my laptop. I asked the proctor, and she had no idea what was causing the issue. I wrote TOEFL an e-mail, they said they would get back to me. They didn't. I followed up, multiple times, and they didn't get back to me. I then called their offices and was put on hold for over an hour multiple times during a single call. When I finally got through to someone, they told me I would have to pay again if I want to retake the test and that they could not inform me of what software was causing the issue. Definitely not retaking the test with them.